Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater New preamp-processsors

The Monoprice unit is actually a rebadged design built in conjunction with "DataSat"(it even looks similar)that has been around for awhile and in some movie theaters so it would seem the technology is mature. The problem with all these "high-end" high priced units is they seem to be a year or two behind the curve in the latest technology especially now related to 2.1 and Earc and even if they can be updated, considering the money you have already spent, you will have to spend more. Of course, after a considerable amount of research on the subject, 2.1, in particular is of no real value unless you are going to invest in an 8K set, but, even more importantly that you are a "gamer", especially one who prefers to play games from your PC monitor with the latest and most expensive video board and want to use your television monitor as the display, otherwise it really is of little use. Earc has been around for awhile even on two year old mainstream AVRs that have had the capacity to be updated with firmware.

I personally am waiting for what Yamaha has coming up. I had one of their previous CX series pre-pros which although only maximum 11.2 channels was very good, good sound, good value, very good build quality, and in the "Aventage" series they offer a full 4 year warranty. whereas the other mainstream manufacturers usually only provide a maximum of 3 yrs. Since I have a dedicated A/V set-up I have tried other brands, but, in the end I always returned to Yamaha because, in the end, I preferred their DSP Movie Theater programs which gave a subtle yet, effective and fully adjustable illusion of a much larger space(without affecting the separation) as opposed to the others which don't and regardless of the price of the pre-pro, are ultimately limited to the space in which you are listening to and watching the movie.

I don't know nearly as much as others about pre/pros and receivers. When my Onk dies, I'll need something else. I know when it comes to hardware, firmware and software including what matters for performance, formats and coders-decoders, I trust the established players more than companies like Anthem and Emotiva. Can we really trust Anthem and Emotiva to introduce a well-engineered and well-tested product? Monoprice, I am not at all sure frankly.

It's good enough. A step above it sister company Denon as they seem a little more honest on the specs (although that may not be saying much) ... like all brands you occasionally hit a bit of flakiness. I always test everything I can with-in days of receiving it (all inputs, outputs, and every signal path I can think of). I want to send it back to the store for a replacement and avoid dealing with any consumer brand warrantee service (especially if I have to mail it in)

Even with a complete checkout there's plenty to miss ... I've unfortunately hit that on my 8805 ... the first HDMI port has a heat problem. I only discovered it because I was temporarily running with an amp sitting on it and the sound cut out after an hour. Traced it to the HDMI board and only that port. Seems to work fine as long as it gets good air flow. If it fails more completely I'll just use another port. Also, Marantz is coming out with an HDMI board upgrade (which from it marketing one might have mistakenly taken as being free). If it's not too expensive I might opt for it. After that there's always digging further to see if it's a discrete part or bad solder joint ...

BTW: This is the kind of thing where you send it back and they tell you nothing is wrong and you have to send it in again. ... each time costing you money and time.

There is a lot of that in this industry ... and especially in the current crop of 16 channel prepros.

Yes, because most often the product meets specs but those specs are not fit for purpose.

HDMI boards seem to be very prone to this sort of thing. On my Onk, the problems were manufacturing quality and not engineering. Onkyo acknowledged the problem and took care of it. The engineering team for my Onk consisted of Japanese nerds who ignored their friends and family for years to perfect the product. Then the factory screwed up all their good work!

I like Anthem's ARC. It makes the things I do not like about my MRX1120 seem less aggravating. I'd like to see the Marantz offer something better than XT32. The Denon that was replaced by the 1120 had it, and there really is no comparison between ARC and XT32. Like Charles, I'd usually turn that crap off.

Yeah, I second ARC or Dirac not because I've heard it but because even XT32 messes up the top end. I find if I set it to Movie rather than Music, it tames the highs. With the actives in 2.1 I don't need it. I still think Charles ought to try it so he can hear the difference. Do you really want to go to your death bed wondering how the Audyssey you already have in your receiver sounded?

I've been skipping the room correction and just setting my own levels, crossovers, and distances lately ... seems to be working.

I agree..... Might as well give what you got a fighting chance. Turn it off later, it doesn't scratch the itch.

ARC was a game changer for me. It totally blew me away, just how much better everything sounded, and that was before I reconfigured the room to an ATMOS set up. That - was an even better improvement.

I'd like to see NAD come out with something new. I've always like NAD.

Actually, not to worry about Anthem, they are just the electronics division of Paradigm speakers, both long established Canadian companies been around for decades. In addition, as already pointed out, Anthem's room correction system "ARC" is regarded as about as good as it gets. Whenever it is updated, I would also strongly consider what is currently model AVM 60, Anthem's 11.2 Pre-Pro.

FYI, NAD is the electronics division of another Canadian company Lenbrook Industries makers of PSB speakers, its HO located directly on the opposite side of town from Paradigm/Anthem. Also been around for decades.